An extraordinarily powerful book. Do you want stories? Read it. Do you want the history of ordinary men and women? Read it. Do you want to learn to love Amsterdam? Read it.
-- Geert van Istendael, Vrij Nederland
What is most impressive here is that the author has condensed Dutch history and made it readable--all around the story of Amsterdam and its distinctive beauty.
-- Margaret C. Jacob, author of Scientific Culture and the Making of the Industrial West
[Mak] begins each chapter with an offbeat example of a different age's preoccupations...He interweaves these tales with cultural, economic, and social history to capture the distinct character of each age across nearly a millennium of history...This is a superior history of a fascinating subject, written with vigor and grace and infused with wisdom, wit, and scholarship. Enthusiastically recommended.
-- David Keymer Library Journal
In this delightful survey of Amsterdam's past and present, Mak...provides an enriched portrait of a city that he clearly loves. He incorporates elements of political, economic, and art history as well as utilizing his refined eye to offer the best elements of a travel guide. While he acknowledges that his city has been uniquely blessed, he doesn't ignore the seamier aspects of Amsterdam's saga...For those who have visited or hope to visit this metropolis, Mak's survey will provide both enjoyment and essential information.
-- Jay Freeman Booklist
Imaginative, engaging, and astute...As only an Amsterdammer can, Mak employs tongue-in-cheek jest to describe the 'proverbial soberness' of the people and their modest, 'proud...even un-proud' self-regard...Vivid stories, chosen with a good eye for the interesting and the representative, create a well-rounded sense of the religious, political, and cultural life in the city...Pithy and entertaining, Mak provides the reader with an altogether intriguing tour through the city he calls home.
-- Publishers Weekly
A most thoughtful and enjoyable narrative history of the city and the empire for which it once stood.
-- Douglas Fetherling New Brunswick Reader
Mak's book is an ambitious account of the development of Amsterdam from its founding in the twelfth century to the present day. This is of some world-historical relevance, inasmuch as Amsterdam dominated world-trade and finance during the Dutch 'golden age' from about 1580 to 1675. Though Mak by no means dwells on this period, he appreciates the special significance of Amsterdam's glory days and the book is also an effort to account for Amsterdam's rise to prominence and its subsequent decline. Although this story has already been told, Mak's imaginative husbanding of resources and his unique quotidian perspective make this a different kind of effort to reframe the puzzle of Amsterdam's greatness and decline...Mak's book...[is] a praiseworthy endeavor in empirical scholarship. It is an inspiration to those of us looking for ways to revive the urban past as living history, rather than as a collection of dead resources.
-- Cornelis Disco H-Net Reviews
This volume combines thoroughly researched history with a personal approach, leaving the reader with the feeling of having listened to someone talking casually, but with great authority, about a city he obviously loves
Mak also captures the spirit of the people of the Dutch capital with stories and anecdotes that explore the heart and soul of one of the world's great cities.
-- Translation Review